Joanne L. Harpel, MPhil, CT, JD, is an international authority on suicide bereavement and postvention response, with over 20 years of experience addressing the questions, emotions, and fears that arise in the aftermath of suicide.
Joanne has spoken throughout the world, including at the United Nations, on Capitol Hill, and for the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. She's trained the chaplains of the U.S. Army and Veterans Administration, the psychologists of the South Korea National Police Agency, and medical professionals across the country, including the pediatricians of Kaiser Permanente.
The President of Coping After Suicide, Joanne created the first national suicide bereavement support group for teens. She is the former Senior Director for Public Affairs and Postvention for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the largest suicide prevention organization in the world, where she co-authored After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools and a primer for explaining suicide to children, and spearheaded the creation of a program to train facilitators of suicide bereavement support groups for children, adolescents, and teens.
Joanne co-chairs the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s Lived Experience Committee, was a founding co-lead of the national Survivors of Suicide Loss Task Force, and has received awards from both the American Association of Suicidology and the International Association for Suicide Prevention.
She is a former attorney and an honors graduate of Amherst College, and she also holds graduate degrees from Cambridge University and the New York University School of Law.
Joanne lost her younger brother, Stephen, to suicide in 1993.
After a Suicide: Helping Children, Adolescents, and Teens
This workshop will explore best practices for supporting children, adolescents, and teens in the aftermath of suicide loss. During our time together, we will explore explaining suicide to children at various ages and developmental stages. Drawing on the work of the Dougy National Center for Grieving Children and Families and Albert Cain’s 2002 “Children of Suicide: The Telling and the Knowing,” we will look at how adults often avoid discussing suicide directly with children, the implications of avoidance and secrecy, recommended age-appropriate language, and the Dual-Process Model of Grief. We...Read more will spend time focusing on best practices for suicide postvention in a school community and will cover key considerations, including the importance of treating suicide deaths comparably to other deaths while mitigating the risk of suicide contagion, memorialization, and messaging. Lastly, we will address special considerations for working with teen survivors of suicide loss. Drawing on personal input from teens themselves -- members of the Coping After Suicide Teens Group and a video clip from “Talking OutLOUD: Teens & Suicide Loss” (in process) -- we will discuss the common fears and frustrations expressed by teens who have lost a loved one to suicide. Less...
Learning Objectives
- Discuss how best to explain suicide to children at various ages and developmental stages.
- List best practices for suicide postvention in a school community.
- Describe special considerations for working with teen survivors of suicide loss.
Learning Levels
- All Levels
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Live Interactive Webinar
02:00 PM EST - 03:30 PM EST
Register for this Webinar
EARN 1.5 CE Credit Hours
About the speaker
Joanne Harpel MPhil, CT, JD
CE Information - Earn 1.5 CE Credit Hours
CE Approvals
National Board for Certified Counselors
CE Learning Systems and National Alliance for Children’s Grief are cosponsors of this program. The cosponsorship has been approved by NBCC. CE Learning Systems is an NBCC Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5951. The ACEP solely is responsible for this program, including the awarding of NBCC credit.
New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work
CE Learning Systems SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #0060.
New York Education Department Board of Creative Arts Therapy
CE Learning Systems (d/b/a CE-credit.com), is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed creative arts therapists. #CAT-0008
New York Education Department for Licensed Mental Health Counselors
CE Learning Systems, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0072.
CE Process Info
A continuing education certificate for the event will be obtained using the website, CE-Go. After the event, you will receive an email containing a link to CE-Go. (This link will be sent to the email account you used to register for the event).
Upon accessing the CE-Go website, you will be able to:
- Complete evaluation forms for each session
- Download your continuing education certificate in a PDF format
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the CE-Go process, please contact CE-Go at 877 248 6789 or by email at support@ce-go.com
Please check your state board requirements to ensure that the above approvals are appropriate for your discipline
